Earlier this week when gathering transcripts I had one school say no to my request. After hours on the phone throughout the course of the week I finally got someone that had access to older records (this particular transcript is from 1997).

Apparently there is a hold on my record for a financial obligation with the housing department and they want me to satisfy the debt before they'll send the transcript. 1). I don't remember owing the school anything when I left as my parents were footing the bill at the time. 2). This is clearly beyond any statute of limitations unless there is something specific that holds school promissory notes open. 3). None of this was ever reported by any collection agency, I was never notified by the school and literally, just found out about this issue this week.

well, you have some options. if you have a financial obligation preventing you from getting the transcript, you can note that on lsac.org and you won't have to provide the transcript. it is possible that down the line some school(s) may require that you get the transcript anyway, but it's possible that you could get away with never paying it. then again, it might be easier to just pay it. is it a large debt? does the transcript have a significant amount of your coursework? will it help or hurt your gpa? all things to consider.

TexasRed wrote:Earlier this week when gathering transcripts I had one school say no to my request. After hours on the phone throughout the course of the week I finally got someone that had access to older records (this particular transcript is from 1997).

Apparently there is a hold on my record for a financial obligation with the housing department and they want me to satisfy the debt before they'll send the transcript. 1). I don't remember owing the school anything when I left as my parents were footing the bill at the time. 2). This is clearly beyond any statute of limitations unless there is something specific that holds school promissory notes open. 3). None of this was ever reported by any collection agency, I was never notified by the school and literally, just found out about this issue this week.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

I don't know man. You could ask them for proof of the alleged debt, write a letter to the Dean, and relentlessly annoy their admissions and records office... But, depending on how much it is, it may be much easier just to pay the amount due, and avoid the hassle.....

The amount is sub $2000. In an of itself, not huge, but with a family and very limited income, that isn't happening.

The transcript covers one semester. During which my father went bankrupt and attempted suicide - studying wasn't exactly priority. That being said, I did what I could before I left school and moved back home to help out. The result was a disastrous semester that I haven't thought about in years. 1 c, 1 d, 2 f's (both classes were dropped, drop never took effect). My GPA right now is around a 3.8x, so it would kick that square in the guts.

Leira, that's the plan.

Howdy, I didn't graduate from there. 1 semester with a metric ton of baggage.

TexasRed wrote:Earlier this week when gathering transcripts I had one school say no to my request. After hours on the phone throughout the course of the week I finally got someone that had access to older records (this particular transcript is from 1997).

Apparently there is a hold on my record for a financial obligation with the housing department and they want me to satisfy the debt before they'll send the transcript. 1). I don't remember owing the school anything when I left as my parents were footing the bill at the time. 2). This is clearly beyond any statute of limitations unless there is something specific that holds school promissory notes open. 3). None of this was ever reported by any collection agency, I was never notified by the school and literally, just found out about this issue this week.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

The statute of limitations is irrelevant because they're not trying to enforce the debt against you in court. I don't see any way you can force them to provide the transcripts without satisfying the debt. I'd ask for proof. If you really want to fight that, you need to talk to an attorney, not a law school forum. How much is the debt? I would probably just pay it unless it was unreasonable.

1.) try to get your transcript without paying, which will probably result in getting run around by the school for months to no avail

2.) just pay the fee and move on

3.) mark the "could not get transcript due to financial obligation" box with LSAC and maybe write an addendum about how the fee is bullshit and you're not paying some fake $2000 fine for one semester worth of classes

1.) try to get your transcript without paying, which will probably result in getting run around by the school for months to no avail

2.) just pay the fee and move on

3.) mark the "could not get transcript due to financial obligation" box with LSAC and maybe write an addendum about how the fee is bullshit and you're not paying some fake $2000 fine for one semester worth of classes

I managed to get a late withdrawal for a course I was taking for fun. I ended up moving after a few weeks, and I never officially withdrew from the class. They billed me for the tuition, and I wrote a letter, and they allowed me to withdraw after the semester was over. I even got a refund for the portion of the tuition I had already paid.

TexasRed wrote:The part that confuses me is that the tuition was taken care of, but the debt is with housing/dorms.

A little fuzzy, but I seem to recall trying to officially withdraw from the school based on family emergency.

Do you know any attorneys? You might want to get a consultation. Perhaps the school is not entitled to withhold transcripts without providing proof of the debt. You need to ask an attorney. Or maybe you can negotiate the debt down. They kind of have you by the balls because I don't see how you're going to get around providing those transcripts. Fatduck seems to think you can get around it, but I've never heard of that. If you attended the college, it is my understanding that LSAC requires transcripts. I've never heard of an exception. I could be wrong. I'm just saying I never heard of it.

TexasRed wrote:The part that confuses me is that the tuition was taken care of, but the debt is with housing/dorms.

A little fuzzy, but I seem to recall trying to officially withdraw from the school based on family emergency.

Do you know any attorneys? You might want to get a consultation. Perhaps the school is not entitled to withhold transcripts without providing proof of the debt. You need to ask an attorney. Or maybe you can negotiate the debt down. They kind of have you by the balls because I don't see how you're going to get around providing those transcripts. Fatduck seems to think you can get around it, but I've never heard of that. If you attended the college, it is my understanding that LSAC requires transcripts. I've never heard of an exception. I could be wrong. I'm just saying I never heard of it.

Asking an attorney isn't a bad idea, (and necessary for legal advice as noted above), but if you don't know one willing to do you a personal favor, you're probably going to have to pay for the legal advice, so that's something to consider as well. I'd ask for the proof first. Proof that 1. the debt exists 2. what its for, exactly; and 3. whether or not they ever tried to collect it before now. Then at least you know what you're working with.....

TexasRed wrote:The part that confuses me is that the tuition was taken care of, but the debt is with housing/dorms.

A little fuzzy, but I seem to recall trying to officially withdraw from the school based on family emergency.

Do you know any attorneys? You might want to get a consultation. Perhaps the school is not entitled to withhold transcripts without providing proof of the debt. You need to ask an attorney. Or maybe you can negotiate the debt down. They kind of have you by the balls because I don't see how you're going to get around providing those transcripts. Fatduck seems to think you can get around it, but I've never heard of that. If you attended the college, it is my understanding that LSAC requires transcripts. I've never heard of an exception. I could be wrong. I'm just saying I never heard of it.

Well LSAC says:

Inability to Obtain TranscriptsIf you are unable to obtain transcripts from an institution due to a financial obligation, you must indicate this when registering for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS). If the institution is the only undergraduate institution you attended, or if you have attended multiple undergraduate institutions and have outstanding financial obligations with all of them, a Credential Assembly Service law school report cannot be produced for you.

But I don't have any personal experience with the process, or whether schools will eventually be like "hey we need to see that transcript" (and maybe they'll think it's sketchy when it turns out to contain poor grades)

Keep in mind that you do have to add the school on LSAC under the Transcripts section. I'm not saying you can just pretend you never attended. But when you add the school to the list, there will be a check-box that says "are you unable to get this transcript due to a financial obligation?" That's what I'm referring to.